Among amateur and professional photographers, one of the most popular film formats is the 35 millimeter size. In the 35 millimeter system, the film is normally carried on a spool within a light-tight cylindrical cartridge. The spool is driven at the end of the cartridge and the film passes through a tangentially-opening entrance in the cylindrical wall of the cartridge. The facing edges of the entrance are provided with black plush to provide a light seal when nothing is passing through the entrance. The light seal is improved further because the height of the entrance is small to minimize light passage.
This cartridge system has the disadvantage that, when the cartridge is to be removed from the camera, the film must be wound back into the cartridge to avoid exposure to light. Most 35 millimeter cameras do not provide any accurate method of winding up the film without causing the end of the film (the leader) to pass through the entrance into the cartridge. Once the leader is in the cartridge it is very difficult to retrieve it in order to process the film or use any unexposed portions.
This loss of the leader occurs in two very different situations. When the roll of film is completely used, the film is wound back into the cartridge and it is desirable to have the leader available to remove the film from the cartridge for processing. If the leader is not available, the cartridge can be broken open to allow removal of the film. While this approach can be somewhat difficult and inconvenient for both the amateur and commercial processor, it is a viable solution. The leader is also lost in the situation where the photographer has partially used a roll of film and desires to change to another type of film. The photographer must return the original film to the interior of the cartridge and, in doing so, the leader is often lost. If the photographer does not wish to waste the remainder of the original roll of film, he must somehow retrieve the leader. He may, of course, break open the cartridge, which must be done in a dark room, but in the process, often ruins the cartridge so that the film cannot be used without obtaining a new cartridge.
Recognizing the value of being able to retrieve the leader without ruining the cartridge in both of these situations, various prior art devices have been devised to solve the problem. For example, in the Sentiff U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,237, issued July 19, 1966, a specially-shaped, elongated tool is provided by which a photographer can reach into the entrance of the cartridge and, by careful manipulation, extract the leader. While certainly an ingenious concept, use of this device does require a considerable degree of manual dexterity. Furthermore, proper manipulation of the device requires that it be of a substantial and sometimes inconvenient size. Another interesting device is that shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,993, to Hovind issued Feb. 11, 1975. This device uses an adhesive patch at the end of a flexible blade to reach in and retrieve the leader. Of course, the adhesive strip has a finite useful life, and the successful removal of the leader often requires a trial and error approach and considerable skill. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a device for the retrieval of a film leader from the interior of a 35 millimeter film cartridge.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a device which will retrieve the leader of a roll of film in a cartridge with a minimum requirement of skill and care by the operator.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a film retrieval device which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide a film retrieval device which is small and compact, so that it is convenient to carry.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a film retrieval device which minimizes the possibility of damage to the film itself.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a film retrieval device which is not subject to physical deterioration and is, therefore, capable of a long and useful life.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.